War of Wills
by Kacy4Eva
Summary: A small argument turned full fedged shouting match has Hitsugaya in a mess as his fukutaicho decides she's had enough of him and is transfering away. HitsuMatsu. Alternate endings, one serious and one funny.
1. Chapter 1

It had only been a small argument. He did not even understand how it had turned into a fully fledged shouting match. Hitsugaya sat at his desk, brow furrowed and head in his hands. He just didn't know what to do.

"_So you're afraid that I'll just suddenly dump you because of your age?!" _

"_Yes!"_

"_How could you even start to believe those rumours, I thought you trusted me! I thought I knew you!"_

"_You can't even begin to understand how I feel!"_

"_Fine! I'm filing transfer papers tomorrow!"_

"_And just where are you planning to go?"_

"_Somewhere where I am trusted and respected for my loyalty!"_

The door slammed shut behind Matsumoto's retreating figure, leaving Hitsugaya to stare with horrified eyes at the mess he had just made.

"_MATSUMOTO!!!"_

The door opened, admitting a steely eyed Matsumoto. "Rangiku…" Hitsugaya began, his heart leaping. Maybe she'd changed her mind about transferring after all. "Rangiku I didn't mean to…" She walked over without a word, place a piece of paper firmly on his desk, turned and walked back out. At the door she stopped,"I pity your next fukutaicho" She said, hurling her words at him as a final insult before she closed the door and swept away.

"My next fukutaicho…" Hitsugaya whispered in shock. Then his heart stopped in realization. He picked up the sheet of paper and felt his heart plummet.

**Approval of Transfer for**

**MATSUMOTO RANGIKU**

**From fukutaicho of 10****th**** Division **

**To third seat of 8****th**** Division**

**Signed**

**YAMAMOTO GENRYUUSAI SHIGEKUNI**

**Captain Commander**


	2. Chapter 2

_A month later_…

"Tatsufusa fukutaicho" came Hitsugaya's tired voice. He was sitting at his desk as he sorted out paperwork. His new fukutaicho was sniggering with some of his squad members outside his workroom doors. He missed Matsumoto so much it hurt to see him sit in her chair. She'd always showed him respect despite his age and never backstabbed him or allowed any of his squad members to backstab him like what they were doing now.

It was only after her departure that he'd found out that his division really thought of him as the 'immature little boy wearing a haori too big for him' It was only after his departure that he'd found out that the only reason why they ever obeyed him was out of respect for Matsumoto who had told them to. It was only after her departure that he found out how much he had needed her.

"Hai, Taicho" came Tatsufusa's voice and half hidden sneer. "Will you please…" His sentence was cut off when a lower seat came charging in. "Taicho! A adjucha has appeared in north Rukongai and is ravaging the town. Orders have been issued for our immediate assistance." "Lets go" he said. They flashed of.

Screams of terror filled his ears as villagers scattered in fear. "Heh, big deal" said his vice-captain. "Help with the evacuation eh, taicho. Don't worry about this guy, I'll have him down in a sec." It was only then that he found out how much he was looked down upon, how much he yearned for the respect of the person supposedly standing beside him, how much Matsumoto had yearned for his respect and yet respected and obeyed him with everything she had. Back then she would have gone and immediately helped with the evacuation. She knew his style and never questioned his ability or his orders.

"Wait! Don't be rash!" He cried. Too late. The adjucha slashed Tatsufusa in half. "Souten ni zase. Hyorinmaru" He cried. The world froze.

Later at his dek he sighed. His heart yearned for Matsumoto. He had seen her and tried to talk to her in the last month but she was decidedly ignoring him. Everytime he saw her giggling and smiling at her best friend and lieutenant, Nanao Ise or at Kyoraku Taicho he felt empty inside. He wished that it was him she was smiling at, that it as his office she was lighting up, she had always been that cheerful-even when he scolded her. He sighed sadly.

"_Your lieutenant disobeyed your orders and got himself killed. Is that right?"_

"_Yes"_

"_Hitsugaya taicho. You need to earn your subordinates trust, I understand the difficulties regarding your age. However, you cannot expect every one of your subordinates to be as open as Matsumoto fukutaicho was"_

Icy hands closed over his heart at her mention.

"_You will have a new lieutenant assigned to your division by the end of this week. Dismissed"_

"_Hai, Soutaicho"_

He thought about that morning's meeting with the captain commander and sighed, his hand reaching for his regular cup of tea and closing on air. Of course, how stupid of him, only Matsumoto would make him tea and only Matsumoto could make it the way he liked it right? So no Matsumoto, no tea.

Suddenly the door burst open and Kyoraku swept in. "Hitsugaya Taicho" "Shunsui taicho. To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?" He frantically tried to control his temper. It wasn't Shunsui's fault of course, but seeing the man Matsumoto had chosen over him still made his teeth grind. "Hitsugaya taicho. Just five minutes ago a document was given to me by my darling Nanao who insisted I read it before handing it over to Rangiku-chan." Hitsugaya's fists tightened at the way he said her name, why wasn't HE the one addressing her by that name? "I thought it might interest you to know about I before I handed it to her."

"What is it about?"

"It's a request for her acceptance of fukutaicho"

"Fukutaicho where?"

"Which is the only division currently without one?'

His heart stopped.

"No doubt she's going to decline so I didn't show it to her yet."

"Where is she?"

"Currently heading over to a glade in the forest nearby to collect my scarf for me. I sent her there, thought you might want to catch her"

"Thanks" He flashed.


	3. Chapter 3

"Here it is!" Matsumoto exclaimed cheerfully. Grabbing the scarf and twirling around gleefully with it. She turned to go when a hand caught her wrist and captain-class reiatsu flared out behind her.

She spun around and found herself face to face with… Hitsugaya.

"What are you doing here? Hitsugaya Taicho" She said in mock politeness, her happy disposition ground to dust.

"Matsumoto I just want to tell you I'm sorry about what happened between us"

"Why now? Its almost midnight and that was a month ago" She said sharply

"Because you've been ignoring me for the last one month"

"And will continue to do so"

"Please Matsumoto"

"Please what?! I'm not your fukutaichou anymore that's that"

"You can transfer back"

"No. I'm very happy under Kyoraku taicho"

He winced, once she would have said that about him.

"Yeah because you can slack and wear pink"

Oops, he said that aloud.

"How dare you say that. I have not been slacking and I'm very happy doing paperwork with Nanao-san and Kyoraku-sama is nice and has a sense of humour"

"I do too"

"As if"

He winced again, okay, this was not going well. He was frustrated and tired and his leash on his temper was wearing thin.

"I know about the transfer request"

"What?!"

"I saw it on taicho's table"

"Then please will you accept"

"No"

"I need you"

"You don't"

"The division needs you"

"So does hachi bantai"

"They have Nanao"

"I do the training drills, they're better than yours now you know"

He growled

"Matsumoto, please"

"No"

That was it

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO SELFISH!"

"LOOK WHO'S TALKING"

"WE NEED A FUKUTAICHOU OKAY?"

"FINE! GET SOMEBODY ELSE"

"WHO?"

"HOW WOULD I KNOW?!"

"LOOK, JUST ACCEPT AND WE CAN WORK SOMETHING OUT!"

"DO YOU THINK I WAS BORN YESTERDAY OR WHAT?!"

"I NEVER SAID THAT!"

"I SAID NO!"

"I ALREADY APOLOGISED TO YOU OKAY?!"

"LIKE I CARE!"

"I SAID I WAS SORRY!"

"AND I SAID FINE BUT I'M NOT TRANSFERING BACK!"

"AND WHY NOT?"

"BECAUSE…"

"BECAUSE?"

"HOW CAN YOU EVEN EXPECT THAT TO BE ENOUGH? AFTER YOU BETRAYED MY TRUST BY BELIEVING THOUSE RUMOURS, AFTER U BROKE MY HEART?!"

"MATSUMOTO YOU WHORE!"

"What?"

"I…I mean"

Her face was pale and his stomach gave a lurch. He felt sick. How had he mucked up like that? Now she'd never forgive him, he'd be lucky if she ever even looked at him again..

"Matsumoto I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that"

"Forget it"

"Please, Matsumoto"

His voice was no longer its usual stoic calm tone. It was the tone of a child voicing a deep plea.

"Please"

"No" She shunpoed off.

He fell to his knees, covered his face with his hands and cried.


	4. Chapter 4

He didn't know how long he knelt there. Sobs tore though his body and his tears just wouldn't stop flowing. Slowly his mind blurred and he blacked out.

Golden sunshine warmed his cold body and hands shook his weary frame. "Hitsugaya taicho. Wake up!" Came Shunsui's deep chocolaty voice. He sat up with a start. "Wha…" Memories of last nights fight flowed back into his head. "Oh man…"

"Hitsugaya taicho what happened?"

"We… We fought…"

"Oh dear…" came Shunsui's soft sigh "So it didn't go well then?"

"No. She'll never forgive me now. I need her…"

"Then go to her"

"Its too late"

"No its not. This morning Rangiku came in looking thunderous, she immediately wrote some kanji on a paper and said she was declining the request. She's on her way to the first now if you want to stop her though it's probably your last chance so it had better be good"

He was gone before it was over.

A hand grabbed Rangiku from the sky as she passed be a deserted area almost to the first division. She gave a cry and found herself pinned to a wall by…

"What are you doing?"

"I just want you to hear me out okay?"

"No"

"Then I won't let you go"

"Fine"

He let go of her wrists and took a deep breath.

"Look, I'm really sorry about what I said, one month ago and yesterday night."

"I don't care"

"I see"

"I just want you to know that I understand that just saying 'sorry' is not enough but I don't know any other way to express this"

"Oh"

"Rangiku, you're the only person who truly respects me in my division and is truly loyal to me. I know I haven't been… easy to put up with…"

Her lips twitched and he ploughed in further.

"I'm sorry I haven't been treating you like I should and I do like it when you're around me… I really do… and um… I… um… I…"

He trailed of lamely.

"Rangiku?" Her head was turned away and she was biting her bottom lip as if deep in thought. He waited for what seemed like eternity before she took a deep breath and turned to face him. Silence lingered between them…

"Rangiku please accept. I swear I'll treat u better… Hell I'll even wear pink if it makes you happy…"

That was the last straw. She flung herself onto him and he pulled her close, enjoying her closeness and the sweet fragrance of her hair.

It was only then that he noticed how much he had grown, his eye now level with hers.

"I won't decline" She murmured into his ear and his heart leapt with joy.

"Thank you, Rangiku"


	5. Chapter 5

_Later that day…_

The door slammed open to reveal his beautiful fukutaichou as she spun into the room.

"Hiya, taichou."

He walked round to stop just behind her. He place one well-muscled arm on her shoulder and spun her around to face him.

"You look like you need a cup of tea. ne taichou? She said, stroking his cheek softly. He turned his head slightly and kissed her palm. She smiled.

In an instant she was gone.

"Thank goodness she's back" he sighed softly.

"_Don't you start taking advantage of her now" _Haineko said in his head. He spun around in shock. She had left Haineko on her table. How had Haineko been able to speak mind to mind with him? Only Hyorinmaru could do that.

"_I let her through for a second"_ Came Hyorinmaru's answer.

The door slid open once more and Rangiku came in carrying a tray with two cups of tea on it. She placed the tray on the coffee table and turned to face him, when a knock resounded on the door.

"Come in" Hitsugaya said, impatient and annoyed.

The soutaichou and his lieutenant walked in.

"S-sou-t-taichou sama?" Hitsugaya half stammered in shock. " I am very glad you accepted my request, Matsumoto fukutaichou" He said calmly. "However, Something very interesting was brought to my attention about you when you came in with the acceptance form earlier." Hitsugaya's throat tightened, he couldn't bear to see her removed from him so quickly. "Your reiatsu has grown significantly, Matsumoto fukutaichou and if my presumptions are right, you have achieved bankai" Hitsugaya froze in shock. "I would have called you to my office if it had not been so late. However, this is a very serious matter considering our recent defection of three captains. So I wish to ask you now, do you wish to take your place as captain of the third division?"

Hitsugaya's heart sank. "As you know, your taichou has been taking care of matters for third division by voluntary for some time now, just as kuchiki taichou has been taking care of matters for the fifth. We have extended a similar request to Abarai fukutaichou in terms of ascending the seat of captain. However, due to loyalty reasons and not being sure of whether he can handle the job, he is currently pending the request and acting as captain in terms of paperwork and leads the squads in missions. Therefore, would you like to do the same or directly ascend the post as captain?" Hitsugaya's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"I have a confession to make." Came Matsumoto's voice, calm but laced with hints of nervousness. His head shot up. "I had achieved bankai even before I transferred out. During my time as the third seat of 8th division I did consider telling you but I wasn't so sure since it was so... sudden after my transfer. However, I had been hiding my bankai before my transfer since I could not bear to leave my division so suddenly and because it has been pure joy serving under Hitsugaya taichou" Hitsugaya drew in his breath and flushed in mortification. It was almost as if she was indirectly scolding him for his disrespect of her abilities and not taking more notice of her. "Therefore I ask to do the same as Abarai fukutaichou and pend the invitation" There was a moment of silence before the soutaicho said, "Hm… Thank you for your honest confession, Matsumoto fukutaichou, your request has been accepted"

The door closed behind him and his fukutaichou as Matsumoto slumped down wearily on the couch. She cupped her hands around her mug of tea and sipped slowly. Hitsugaya sat down next to her. He took a sip of the sweet, hot tea before putting down the mug and drawing her gently into his arms so that she was lying on the couch with her head on his lap. He gently traced the line of her jaw before saying slowly "Why didn't you tell me?" She sighed "I was afraid you'd send me away to another division and I didn't want to leave."

"Thank you for staying, Rangiku"

"You're welcome, Toushirou"

He bent down slowly as Rangiku reached up, wrapping her arms around his head. They kissed at first lightly, gently, then fervently and passionately, feeling themselves melt into each other. Both of them knew there and then that they shared a relationship of love that they would never in a million years be willing to give up.

- 終わり-


	6. Alt End

ALTERNATE ENDING

_The next morning…_

"MATSUMOTO!"

"I can't believe they're at it already, it's altogether too early…"

"I miss my Ran-chan…"

WHAM Nanao's fan landed firmly on the top of her Taicho's head.

"Nanao-chan, so mean…"

From the eighth division office, the sounds of Hitsugaya's furious screams for his bubbly fukutaicho interrupted a very ordinary morning.

At the tenth division barracks, however…

"MATSUMOTO WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" It was no understatement to say that steam was practically gushing out of Hitsugaya's ears. His face was scrunched up in a huge scowl and his ears had turned entirely red.

"Awww, taicho you are so CUTE!" Came Matsumoto's elated squeal.

"MATSUMOTO!"

"Come on taicho, chill, you're going to disturb the other taichos you know?"

"MATSUMO..."

GLOMP

"mhm…mhm…" By the time Hitsugaya finally got his cheery fukutaicho to release him from her voluptuous chest, he was entirely blue in the face and could do nothing more than gasp for air.

"Matsumoto, I swear, either you fix this of I'm going to have you frozen solid in a block of ice for the rest of the day" His face had regained its angry red color and their breaths were forming puffs of steam in the cold temperature.

As soon as the words left his lips he regretted it. The look on Matsumoto's face was like a smug spider and he felt like the prey that had just accidentally landed in its web. Smirking she leaned in until their faces were mere centimeters apart.

"Really? Taicho? But aren't you afraid I'll get sick and the soutaicho will send me away because I'm unable to handle my superior?" Hitsugaya winced inwardly, crap. That was certainly a possibility, or she might get mad at him and transfer away again, he'd just experienced that and he never wanted to experience it again. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself down.

"Matsu… No, Rangiku, you know I can't go around, let alone to today's captain's meeting in a (he splutters) _**pink**_ haori!"

"Taicho did you just call me Rangiku?"

"Matsumoto"

"Eh? Maybe I heard wrongly" She turned away, looking like she was loosing interest in the subject.

"Matsumoto, wait… Don't walk away… Matsumoto… RANGIKU!"

"Say that again?"

"Rangiku"

"Yes? _Toushirou_" He blushed furiously.

"Its Hitsugaya Taicho"

"Hm? What was that? _Toushirou_" She took one step closer to him, their noses were almost touching. He took a step back… And hit the wall.

"Rangiku, remove the color from my uniform." He was desperately trying to keep himself composed but the pink haori was rapidly becoming the lesser of two problems. The bigger one being, of course, the beautiful fukutaicho with her lips dangerously close to his. She smirked, it appeared that he was in a very stubborn mood. Leaning in, she captured his lips. He felt her lips close on his and instinctively his arms snaked around her waist, pulling her closer to him. They broke off, panting.

"Toushi…" He pulled her to him in a sudden movement, pressing his lips against hers once more. Rangiku's eyes widened, "Mmmm..? Wait, Taicho…" She mumbled against his lips but heck if Hitsugaya cared. He had reclaimed the women he loved and he was damned if he let such a good opportunity slip away.

The door opened, "Sorry to disturb Hitsu…" Renji's jaw dropped. Hitsugaya's eyes widened, no wonder she had tried to stop him but in the heat of the moment he had neglected to check and thus had not felt Renji's reiatsu approaching the room. Renji slammed the door close and sprinted for his life, if he wasted time frozen in a block of ice, Kuchiki taicho would kill him.

"Looks like the cat's out of the bag eh, toushirou?" She smiled at her shell-shocked taicho, she wasn't too worried, really, after all, this meant she wouldn't have to fend off one Hinamori Momo or any other of his fangirls. Satisfied with her morning's work she decided she'd take the rest of the day off at the bar.

"Wait Matsumoto, you still have to get the colour off my haori!"

"When did I say I would? Besides, a taicho should keep his promises you know"

"What prom…" Then it hit him.

_"Rangiku please accept. I swear I'll treat u better… __Hell I'll even wear pink if it makes you happy__…"_

CRAP.

Under critical (Mostly amused) stares from the other taichos, Hitsugaya toushirou, 10th division captain, attended captain's meeting in a pink haori(and constantly wished he could sink into the floor) while his fukutaichou merely waited outside with an ever present, very pleased, smirk on her face. Glaring furiously at anybody who passed by, Hitsugaya tried to put up with his promise as he performed his regular duties. A very pleased Rangiku finally removed the pink on his uniform after a day of teasing her poor taicho, of course, he had to give her plenty of kisses to make her do it and plenty more to ensure that his haori stayed white each day.

- 終わり-


End file.
